NerdNews

The $100B Stargate AI venture will be powered by solar and batteries, with SoftBank-backed SB Energy building the renewable power installations. This move aims to address the growing energy demands of data centers, which are expected to consume 12% of US power by 2028. Solar and wind farms can be completed in half the time of nuclear and natural gas plants, making them a viable solution for the venture's energy needs.

Meta plans to significantly increase its capital expenditures to $60-80 billion, primarily for data centers and AI development teams, aiming to have 1.3 million GPUs for AI by the end of the year, as it competes with rivals like Microsoft and OpenAI in the AI space.

As AI models grow, datacenters need to expand. However, power limits and latency issues arise. To address this, the industry is moving towards distributing workloads across multiple datacenters, using high-speed interconnects and software optimization to mitigate latency and bandwidth challenges.

OpenAI's research investigates the relationship between inference-time compute and AI model robustness against adversarial attacks, finding that increased compute can reduce vulnerability to attacks.

OpenAI has launched a research preview of Operator, a general-purpose AI agent that can independently perform tasks like booking travel and making restaurant reservations. The feature will roll out to US users on ChatGPT's $200/month Pro subscription plan. Operator uses a dedicated web browser to complete tasks and provides text explanations of its actions.

LG Electronics has acquired a majority stake in Bear Robotics, a California-based startup that builds AI-powered server robots for restaurants. The deal values Bear Robotics at $600 million and gives LG a 51% ownership stake. LG plans to integrate Bear with its commercial robot unit to develop a comprehensive software platform for commercial, industrial, and home robots.

Rivian will launch a hands-free driving assistant system for its R1T and R1S vehicles later this year, followed by an 'eyes-off' version in 2026. The system will work similarly to Ford's Blue Cruise or GM's Super Cruise software, and will be indicated by a color-changing light bar on the vehicle.

Nvidia's RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs will be available on January 30th, with the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 to follow in February. The new GPUs feature DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, which can generate up to three additional frames per traditionally rendered frame. The RTX 5090 is priced at $1,999, while the RTX 5080 is priced at $999.

OpenAI has added its o1 model to Canvas, its ChatGPT coding helper feature, which now supports rendering HTML and React code. The update is available on the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS.

An interview with Mark Weatherford, VP of policy and standards at Gretel, discusses the potential for states to lead the way in AI regulation, citing California's recent laws and the need for harmonization across state lines. Weatherford believes that states will likely take a more active role in regulating AI in 2025, and that synthetic data will play a key role in the future of AI.

Apple introduces the Advanced Commerce API to support more in-app purchase formats, such as subscriptions and content add-ons, without changing the commission structure. This move aims to support developers' evolving business models, including large content catalogs and creator experiences.

OpenAI's Stargate data center in Texas, a $100 billion project, is expected to employ only 57 people, despite its massive scale. The project aims to power AI systems and is partnered with Oracle and SoftBank. The data center's construction is expected to create more jobs, but the long-term employment opportunities are limited.

A US judge has ruled that the FBI's practice of searching data on US persons under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without obtaining a warrant is unconstitutional. This decision limits the FBI's ability to conduct warrantless searches, providing a win for US privacy. Additionally, a security researcher found an issue with Cloudflare's systems that could reveal app users' rough locations, and the Trump administration disbanded a review board investigating China's Salt Typhoon attacks.

Oracle and Microsoft are reportedly in talks to take over TikTok's global operations, with Oracle running the app's operations and Microsoft investing. The deal aims to minimize Chinese ownership and would see ByteDance keeping a minority stake in TikTok.

Andrew Pavlo's annual database retrospective highlights significant license changes, growth of DuckDB, and new releases in 2024, including Microsoft Garnet and Valkey, with a focus on open-source databases and their impact on the industry.

Retro Biosciences, a biotech startup backed by Sam Altman, is raising $1 billion to extend human lifespan by 10 years. The company plans to launch trials for drugs targeting diseases like Alzheimer's and has trained a model with OpenAI to turn regular cells into stem cells.

Developer Daniel Supernault is raising funds on Kickstarter for open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, aiming to create a decentralized social network with end-to-end encryption and a non-profit structure.

Security researchers found vulnerabilities in Subaru's Starlink web portal, allowing remote control and access to a year's worth of vehicle location history. The flaw was patched in November, highlighting risks in connected cars.

A Russian scamming group, known as Crazy Evil, is targeting cryptocurrency influencers and high-value victims with sophisticated techniques, including malware and infostealers, to steal digital assets and sensitive information.

Long-time Apple executive Kim Vorrath has been moved to the Apple Intelligence team to boost the project, which includes Siri. Vorrath has a track record of delivering successful projects, including the original iPhone and Apple Vision Pro. Her move is seen as an effort to improve Siri, which has been criticized for its limitations. Apple is expected to release a better Siri with iOS 18.4.